Articles for Topic: Self-Improvement

Silent Mentors

By Les Robinson Many of us regard our parents and siblings as having mentored us in some manner, certainly in the early stages of our lives, and perhaps even into our later years. Most of us still remember the names of teachers and coaches and clergy and other...

Leave Me Alone So I Can Do Ministry!

By Stephanie Dyrness Lobdell From CTPastors “Oh Pastor, you’re so busy. I don’t want to bother you,” she says as she makes herself at home on my office couch. On my more gracious days, I respond easily, “Oh you’re never a bother. Come in. How is it with your...

Staying Put: A Look at the First 10 Years of Ministry

From Alban By Israel Galindo During my years in parish ministry I offered spiritual direction for clergy in the area. In the span of two years, four pastors came to me with what seemed to be the same symptoms. Each felt a sense of restlessness, malaise, and vague...

How can clergy achieve positive mental health?

From Faith and Leadership By Kate Rugani McDonald’s might not be the first place people think of as a hub for ministry. But that’s where you’ll find the Rev. Chip Webb most mornings, sipping a steaming coffee as the Pfafftown, North Carolina, community streams in. “At...

The Day I Hit the Wall

From Leadership Journal By Gordon MacDonald Marathon runners speak of “hitting the wall,” a moment in a race when the body appears to have exhausted all of its energy and pleads to quit. I borrow this phrase when I recall a life-altering experience I had...